sbiddle: What I find interesting is our Government expecting $2 billion + for this spectrum. This is based mainly off Australian Government estimates for their spectrum, which was based of UK estimates for their 800Mhz spectrum.

The UK has their 800 and 2600 LTE auctions last night and received ?2.34 billion, and has expected to get ?3.5 billion + for this so it's fallen well below what they wanted. Australian networks have also said they won't be paying anywhere near what the Government wants.

The NZ government is looking at $2 Billion in wider economic benefits. The estimates for auction revenues I think are a lot lower. Usually spectrum is based on price of pop / MHz. Being 15 times smaller than the UK is a very crude estimate of proceeds

khull: Not meaning to joke - How long before local Iwi claim rights to this spectrum?

They already have. Except they have no right to claim any of it. They don't own the airwaves and they have no rights to try claim any. They didn't even know it existed till the white man came along.They certainly weren't using it before the colonists came along!

ok so now i am happy if NZ and australia ALL use 700 ... then i'd be fine 99.9% of the time ... please please!

But 1800MHz will still still be the primary frequency here, probably with 2600MHz infill in urban areas.

Lower frequencies aren't always better. Yes they deliver better inbuilding coverage in urban areas, but they also travel further. This is both good and bad.

And by urban areas what do you define as that? I'm sitting in the Hutt Valley (Silverstream/Heretaunga end) and thanks to Vodafone's 2100Mhz fetish the idea of using a competitor to Telecom is a possibility of you enjoy next to no coverage let alone decent 3G support. For me and for many NZ'ders the opening up for the 700Mhz band will hopefully result in a lot more consistent coverage around NZ with better over all service when compared to the situation that exists today where Telecom is the only option in many cases. Btw, for the record Vodafone have been saying for 2 years that they'll improve things and for 2 years absolutely nothing has happened so I'm not going to hold out much hope.

As for the move to LTE, I hope that better coverage and an all IP network will result in lower data prices.

kawaii: And by urban areas what do you define as that? I'm sitting in the Hutt Valley (Silverstream/Heretaunga end) and thanks to Vodafone's 2100Mhz fetish the idea of using a competitor to Telecom is a possibility of you enjoy next to no coverage let alone decent 3G support.

It's hardly Vodafone's fault that the 2100MHz band was the only choice for 3G when they started deploying their network in 2004. The 900MHz 3G rollout will improve this as it has done in Auckland.

kawaii: Btw, for the record Vodafone have been saying for 2 years that they'll improve things and for 2 years absolutely nothing has happened so I'm not going to hold out much hope.

That certainly is not correct. Over the past year Vodafone have been doing a massive amount of work on their network. Do you think the Auckland U900 upgrade all just happened over one weekend? They have been deploying kit and upgrades for months preparing for the changeover. With mass penetration of GSM 900 everywhere, they can't just start turning on bits of U900 here and there; their network needs to adjusted and frequencies re-farmed etc.And this has not just been happening in Auckland, other cities to follow.

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Does the government still use the system of a silent auction with the spectrum going to the second-highest bidder? If not I guess it will all just be allocated to the encumbent.

What about the 200MHz (CH4-11) and 500MHz (CH21-29) bands? My understanding was that these are also to be clreared out of analogue TV to allow for wireless internet. The RSM guy who checked my TV signal said something to that effect.

Skolink: What about the 200MHz (CH4-11) and 500MHz (CH21-29) bands? My understanding was that these are also to be clreared out of analogue TV to allow for wireless internet. The RSM guy who checked my TV signal said something to that effect.

I haven't heard anything about that, indeed 530 MHz is already used by a digital TV channel in my area.

Skolink: What about the 200MHz (CH4-11) and 500MHz (CH21-29) bands? My understanding was that these are also to be clreared out of analogue TV to allow for wireless internet. The RSM guy who checked my TV signal said something to that effect.

I haven't heard anything about that, indeed 530 MHz is already used by a digital TV channel in my area.

DTV goes down to I think Ch 26 (guard band to the police service below) and Ch's 4 - 11 are VHF band III which internationally not much use apart from DAB once analogue TV has been switched off in late November and the NZ broadcasters seem to have no appetite for that right now.

Skolink: Does the government still use the system of a silent auction with the spectrum going to the second-highest bidder? If not I guess it will all just be allocated to the encumbent.

What about the 200MHz (CH4-11) and 500MHz (CH21-29) bands? My understanding was that these are also to be clreared out of analogue TV to allow for wireless internet. The RSM guy who checked my TV signal said something to that effect.

The 500Mhz UHF band (512MHz ch 21 upwards) is allocated for TV and will always remain that way.

VHF frequencies will essentially become free and unused as we don't use these for terrestrial digital unlike some other countries. VHF Hi Band could be used for DAB+ if this was ever deployed in NZ beyond the trial transmissions but with no real interest from broadcasters it seems that this is unlikely to happen.